But Coldwell Banker's recently released Home Price Comparison Index shows just how huge this affordability gap can be.

The price of a 2,200-square-foot house with 4 bedrooms, 2 ½ bathrooms, a family room and two-car garage in a neighborhood "typical for corporate middle-management transferees" varies by more than $1.5 million.

In Minot, N.D. – the most affordable market in the annual index – the average sale price for this house is just $130,300. (Coldwell Banker looked at nearly 350 markets – click here to see how your city stacks up.)

But in La Jolla, Calif., that same house will cost $1,708,333, or more than 13 times as much.

One nation, many price points

The index looked at similar houses in 323 markets in the United States and Puerto Rico and 25 markets in Canada.

The national average for this 2,200-square-foot house is $354,372, up 11.4 percent from 2003.

California claimed seven of the 10 most expensive markets, with La Jolla topping the list, followed by Beverly Hills, where the average price is $1.3 million and Santa Barbara, where the average price is $1.2 million.

Most expensive markets

Market

2004 sale price

La Jolla, Calif.

$1,708,000

Beverly Hills, Calif.

$1,314,000

Santa Barbara, Calif.

$1,230,000

Palo Alto, Calif.

$1,212,000

Greenwich, Conn.

$1,192,000

* prices rounded to the nearest thousand

Source: Coldwell Banker

Other affordable markets include: Great Falls, Mont.; Arlington, Texas; Billings, Mont.; and Killeen, Texas, where the average sale price for this type of house is less than $140,000.

Homeowners interested in seeing how much their house would cost in another market should check out Coldwell Banker's home price comparison tool. Enter the price of your current house, your market and up to three markets you're considering.

Least expensive markets

Market

2004 sale price

Minot, N.D.

$130,300

Great Falls, Mont.

$130,500

Arlington, Texas

$134,500

Billings, Mont.

$134,600

Killeen, Texas

$136,700

* prices rounded to nearest hundred

Source: Coldwell Banker

A $400,000 house in Portland, Ore., for example, would cost $425,000 in Burlington, Vt., according to the index. It would be $519,000 in Ann Arbor, Mich. and nearly $1.3 million in Long Beach, Calif.